110th U.S. Open Championship Preview

Golf Betting Lines

06/14/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting down for his post-championship interview in 2000, Tiger Woods opened with a simple comment that summed up his historic victory at the U.S. Open.

"Well, I guess I won."

More than that, Woods dominated from start to finish in a record-setting rout at the year's second major.

Among the U.S. Open records Woods set that week were most strokes under par (12), largest margin of victory (15 shots), largest 36-hole lead (six shots) and largest 54-hole lead (10 shots).

In short, Woods may have reached the peak of his dominance during those four rounds at Pebble Beach, finishing the championship with a 12-under 272 that left his fellow competitors wondering what course he was playing.

Woods was the only player who finished under par.

"When you have a guy playing like that, you have no chance," said Ernie Els, who was paired with Woods for the final round.

Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez finished as distant runners-up that Sunday, and Els was left wondering how someone who was only 24 years old could be so much better than anyone else.

"It seems like we're not playing in the same ballpark right now," Els said afterward.

This week, the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach for the first time since that historic Sunday, but Woods doesn't look anything like the dominant player he was 10 years ago.

Following a sex scandal that dynamited his personal life and public image, and a neck injury that forced him to withdraw from The Players Championship, Woods' once-solid position as the No. 1 player in golf is suddenly open for attack.

He hasn't won a major since picking up No. 14 in dramatic fashion at the 2008 U.S. Open, where he beat Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff at Torrey Pines while playing on a severely injured leg.

In the interim, six players have captured majors: Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink, Y.E. Yang and Phil Mickelson. Harrington has won two.

Woods' showed cracks in his armor at last year's PGA Championship, where Yang pulled off the previously impossible feat of defeating Woods at a major when Woods held the 54-hole lead.

Suddenly, Woods looked beatable. And with only one top-10 finish in four starts this season -- a fourth-place tie at the Masters, his 2010 debut -- he still does.

With Woods no longer a bullet-proof lock as the overwhelming favorite, this week's U.S. Open is setting up to be a wide-open championship with many contenders.

Mickelson won the year's first major when he captured his third Masters title and he has looked like the best player in golf many times this season. His history at U.S. Opens is a dubious one, of course, with a record-setting five runner-up finishes.

Lefty's latest runner-up came last year at Bethpage Black, where he was playing for the final time before his wife, Amy, began treatment for breast cancer. Mickelson was the favorite as always in front of the New York galleries, especially as he made a charge during the Monday finish, but the result was a familiar one: another runner-up, his fourth at a U.S. Open in New York.

Lee Westwood has never won a major, but the talented Englishman is the reigning European No. 1 and third-ranked player in the world behind Woods and Mickelson.

Westwood has too many good finishes at major championships to mention in detail -- the latest was a runner-up to Mickelson at this year's Masters -- but one in particular is often overlooked. We forget that he missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole with a chance to join Woods and Mediate in the U.S. Open playoff in 2008.

And then there's this: Westwood is coming off a win at the St. Jude Classic, his first on the PGA Tour in 12 years. That's good momentum, but a bad historical omen. No player has ever won a PGA Tour event and then captured the U.S. Open the following week.

There are the usual top contenders in this week's field -- proven talent like Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Els -- as well as young stars like Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa, who will draw attention.

There has also been an English revival this season, led by Westwood, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Luke Donald, who have all captured significant wins this season. Three of them -- Rose isn't in the field -- will be looking to snap an English drought at majors that goes back to Nick Faldo's win at the 1996 Masters.

This week's darkhorse pick isn't really a darkhorse at all: 29th-ranked Dustin Johnson, who has captured the regular PGA Tour stop at Pebble Beach in each of the last two seasons.

The sentimental favorite is 60-year-old Tom Watson, who was given a special exemption by the USGA to play in his first U.S. Open since 2003. The offer came on the heels of his tie for 18th place at this year's Masters, where he opened with a turn-back-the-clock 67 and remained in contention until tying for 18th place.

Of course, it might also have something to do with his playoff loss to Stewart Cink at last year's British Open, where Watson nearly gave us the greatest golf story of all time.

Watson captured his only U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 1982, knocking off Jack Nicklaus with a chip-in birdie at the 17th hole on Sunday. Watson has played in all four U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach, making the cut in three of them.

While it is unlikely that Watson will win this week, the recent history of U.S. Opens has showed us that anything is possible at the year's second major.

The last four championships have given us Mickelson's 72nd-hole blunder at Winged Foot in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy capitalized for the win; Angel Cabrera's chain-smoking victory at Oakmont in 2007; Woods' dramatic playoff triumph on one leg in 2008; and last year's rain-soaked, five-day marathon at Bethpage Black, where Lucas Glover scratched out his first major win.

With those finishes in mind, we like Watson in a Tuesday playoff over Westwood and 18-year-old Ishikawa, with Woods missing a three-footer for a spot in the playoff and Mickelson coming in dead last.

What? It could happen.

Fpxsports Golf Betting News


<< Henin wins; Tanasugarn loses Unicef opener
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 and 2010 Australian Open runner-up Justine Henin was an easy opening-round winner, while two-time defending champion Tamarine Tanasugarn exited the draw Monday

<< World Cup neophytes New Zealand, Slovakia set to square off
Rustenburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of relative newcomers to the world stage meet up at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Tuesday as New Zealand and Slovakia square off in the Group F opener for both sides. Slovakia will be app

<< De Bakker exits Unicef draw
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Dutch crowd favorite Thiemo De Bakker was a first-round upset victim Monday at the Unicef Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tuneup. De Bakker gave way to wild car

<< Orioles reinstate RHP Simon from DL
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have reinstated right-hander Alfredo Simon from the 15-day disabled list. Simon is 1-1 with a 2.92 earned-run average and six saves in 12 appearances for the Orioles this se

<< Japan tames Indomitable Lions
Bloemfontein, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan earned a 1-0 victory in its Group E match vs. Cameroon at Free State Stadium on Monday in what could be considered the biggest upset to this point of the FIFA World Cup. Cameroon, whi

Gold Pride extends lead atop WPS table >>
West Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marta scored two goals and assisted on another as FC Gold Pride moved four points clear at the top of the Women's Professional Soccer table after beating the Philadelphia Independence, 3-1, at John A.

This Week in Golf - June 17th through June 20th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION - UNITED STATES OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California - The major championship season continues this week as the best players in the world h

Titans LB McRath suspended four games >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans linebacker Gerald McRath has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs. The Tennessean conf

Indiana State hoops coach McKenna resigns >>
Terre Haute, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana State men's basketball coach Kevin McKenna has resigned from his position Monday to take an assistant coaching position at Oregon. McKenna spent three seasons guiding the Sycamores,

Cards G Lutui signs qualifying offer >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Cardinals guard Deuce Lutui signed his one-year qualifying offer on Monday. A four-year pro, he started all 16 games for Arizona last season. Since coming into the league as Arizona's second-rou

NFL Football betting

Best Online Sportsbooks NFL football betting promotions

Check out all of the NFL football betting promotions at the best online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. At this Sportsbook they provide the best NFL & College Football betting lines, promotions, and free contests.

NFL & COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING PROMOTIONS


More Props Equals More Fun
There is quite simply no one else in the World that offers you more proposition and futures wagers than we do. Player Props, Scoring Titles, Scoring by Quarter and by half. Dozens of daily Golf Matchups. Racing Fans will be in heaven with our selection. There is quite simply only one way to show you.

If Win and If Action Sports Betting
On an NFL Sunday there are less than 15 minutes between the morning games and the afternoon games. How do you get your second bet down? We have just the solution for you, If Bets. Its a simple bet in which you wager a fixed amount on one team and if that team wins, then the same amount as your original wager is placed on a different team.

Football Teasers up to 15 Teams
You can tease together up to 15 teams removing as many as 10 points off the spread. We offer 6, 6.5 and 7 point teasers as well as 3 team 10 point teasers. Click here to see our full Payout Table. You can tease NCAA & Pro games together as well.

Football Parlays up to 12 Teams
We offer parlays from 2 to 12 teams, paying up to 1,800 to 1. You can parlay teams from different sports, you can parlay totals and sides and you can even parlay together our huge selection of proposition wagers.

Progressive Parlays - Football betting
We were the first to create Progressive Parlays and now the world has followed. Play an 8 team parlay and if 6, 7, or 8 teams win, you win. Play a 4 team parlay, if 3 or 4 teams win, you win. Even if you dont win all the games in your parlay, you can Still Win!

Double Your Money Mondays NFL Football Betting
Free contest for Members! Double your winnings with our Sportsbook during football season! On specific football games throughout the year, our Sportsbook will have regular contests where you can double your winnings on selected games.

$1,000.00 Weekly Pigskin Payout NFL Football Contest
Make a free football bet on us! We're giving our members a chance to walk away with a part of $1,000.00 in v-chips for free every week this football season. Simply fill out our weekly $1,000 Pigskin Payout entry form and you're eligible to win.

Free NFL Football $10 No Risk Bet
We offer a risk free football prop bet to active members. It is posted on the main page once you login. Make a $10 bet and enjoy the profits if you win and we'll refund the wager if it loses. The refund is credited automatically to your account.

Buy Points - Adjust the spread for Football Betting
We offer you the chance to adjust the odds in your favor. You can now buy up to 3 points off the "spread" and "total" numbers for football and basketball games. Get the advantage in your betting with our Sportsbook.

$100,000 Weekly Football Challenge
As a member you can "log in" and pick 13 teams from our selection of listed games under the heading $100,000 Challenge and when they all win against the spread, you win the ultimate handicapping prize, $100,000.00 CASH. 

Football In Game Betting
We are now proud to bring you LIVE In Game Betting odds. Follow the plays and put a wager down as the game goes. Odds will be posted on our site under "In Game Betting" once the game starts and throughout the whole game. 

NFL Player to Score First Contest
If our randomly selected player scores the first Touchdown in a selected game, we'll refund the wagers on ALL other players in our "Player to Score First" future. 

No Juice College Football Game of the Week
Every Saturday we will pick one afternoon nationally televised game and offer the game at even odds, lay $100 to win $100. No Juice! What better way to kill a Saturday afternoon and make some quick cash. 

NFL Football Betting Shutout Refund
We have to be the only place to bet the Money Lines. If your NFL team is shutout, we will refund All Money Line Bets. It's that simple, a shutout means a Full refund! 

Free Printable NFL Office Pool Sheets
Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. 

2007 online football betting Preview

My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."

The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.

To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.

However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.

Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.

Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.

Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.

2007 College Football Betting Preview

There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.

The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.

So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.

USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.

USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.

Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.

That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.

The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"

The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.

Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.

Las Vegas Sports Lines

The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.

It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."

The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.

The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.

Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.

After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.

To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.